]]>File photoA major objection to cell phone towers, according to telecommunications expert Hugh Odom, who deals with the structures, is that they are as ‘ugly as sin’. Union County College is considering installing one on its Cranford campus.

CRANFORD, NJ — An attorney who assists homeowners with cell tower lease negotiations says there are ways to enhance the aesthetics of cell towers like the 130-foot-tall one Union County College proposes building on its campus.

In a Jan. 11 interview with LocalSource, Hugh Odom, founder of Tennessee-based Vertical Consultants, said telecommunication giants call the process by which a cell tower is camouflaged or concealed “stealthing.” Odom is not professionally involved with the current local controversy concerning the proposed UCC tower.

Monopoles such as the one UCC is seeking to erect on the southwestern edge of its campus can be made to resemble trees, flagpoles, clock towers or other features. Odom said some towers erected on church property have been made into crosses.

UCC passed a resolution June 26 to move forward with a two-phase project with Verizon. First, the telecommunications giant would install an in-building distributed antenna system to provide 95 percent coverage throughout the seven main buildings. In the second phase, Verizon would build a 130-foot monopole cell tower to the immediate west of the William Sperry Miller Observatory.
According to the minutes from UCC’s Buildings and Ground Committee meeting Sept. 25, AT&T is “interested in being a co-locator” along with Verizon for the monopole. In the report given by Lynne Welch, UCC vice president for financial affairs and treasurer, AT&T would be involved “provided the cell tower is 140 feet high, up from the previously mentioned 130 feet.”

Whether the monopole will be made to resemble one of surrounding trees or something else has not been decided.
“The reason they don’t do that, the reason you drive down the street today and see cell towers that are ugly as sin, they’re poles sticking out of the ground, is because of a few basic things,” Odom said.

First, it could cost thousands of dollars to make a monopole look like, say, a flagpole. But, more importantly, Odom said it could “limit the utility” of the tower and therefore its potential profitability.

“Let’s say AT&T wants to put something up,” he said. “It limits the utility of that structure because you can’t as easily mount equipment. It doesn’t have as much space. It’s like building an apartment complex and instead of having 10 units, you only have six because of the way it’s built. So, you have less ability to use it and your utility goes down as well. You also limit the ability to drive additional revenue by having another carrier attach to that structure because of the limited mounting area, things of that nature.”

Several township residents, some of whom have formed the Residents Against Union County College Cell Tower, urged the county Board of Chosen Freeholders at its Nov. 8 meeting to halt the construction of the tower.
Resident Christine Licata told the freeholders at that meeting that the tower would be built within 1,000 feet of 75 residences, with some as close as 236 feet from the tower.

She also said the Brookside Place Elementary School would be just one-half mile away from it.
At the meeting, residents voiced concerns about the aesthetics of the cell tower, which, if it is built on the small hill near the observatory, would extend an additional 10 feet into the sky.

Some residents also said they feared the tower would diminish the values of their homes and others said they were worried it would affect their health.
Odom said he has “never seen research that said it increases the value” of nearby properties. And, as far as perceived health risks, he said telecommunications companies are increasingly being made to erect signs and barricades near cell towers.

“They say, ‘There are some health hazards of getting too close to this for a sustained period of time. You need to stay back beyond a certain area,’” Odom said. “It gives notice to those things. So, I would tell you that, while there are no definitive studies that this is going to be an issue, it is something you’re seeing more and more, kind of alerts to the possibility of it being an issue.”

For property owners such as UCC to maintain health and safety oversight, a lot depends on how they structure the lease.
“With the health and safety situation, the one thing they need to make sure of, if I were the college, I would sit there and say, ‘OK, I want to make sure I’m not causing an issue to my students. I’m not causing an issue to the neighborhood, etc.,’” Odom said. “So, you need to have something in that agreement with the company you are leasing to that says, ‘I need a way for you — that being the tenant, say AT&T or Verizon — I need you to have an obligation every so often to provide me with evidence that you are within certain standards in regards to health and safety standards.”

Odom said by having such a stipulation in a lease, a property owner such as UCC can have “an affirmative way” of making sure it is not in violation of governmental guidelines.

Odom said that in many agreements with AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and others, the companies follow the agreement from the outset. However, the wording in the agreements often allows them to “change everything on Day Two.”

“Think of it as a retail space,” he said about the cell tower. “Think of it as a Verizon store and Verizon says, ‘We’re going to put all this stuff up there.’ The school says ‘OK.’ Verizon the next day can tear all that down and change it all and do whatever they want with that space. The mentality for a cell tower company, be it a Verizon or whoever it may be, is that once they sign that lease, they can do whatever they want to it.

“They have carte blanche rights to do whatever they want to inside the space as long as its legal. So, if you are in a situation in which you are allowing that, then not only can you not have oversight with generally how your property is impacted but flowing down to the health and safety, you have no oversight to know exactly what’s going on on your property and how do ever maintain it to anybody else?”

According to the resolution, Verizon will lease the land from the college for $34,800 with a 2 percent annual increase and a “50 percent co-locator rent paid to the college for a five-year term with the option for four successive five-year renewals to build a 130-foot monopole cell tower on college property that would accommodate four carriers, at no cost to the college.
”
Zoning officer Ronald Johnson said the township has not received an application to build a cell tower in the past few months.
UCC was to appear before the Cranford Planning Board on Wednesday, Jan. 16, to continue its application to build a condenser unit and cooling tower on the roof of its library.

]]>43468Springfield parents press for school board for media specialistshttps://unionnewsdaily.com/headline-news/43461
Sun, 20 Jan 2019 13:02:54 +0000https://unionnewsdaily.com/?p=43461SPRINGFIELD, NJ — Bonnie Lafanza, who has two boys in the local school system, thinks her middle school son is being shortchanged. As a librarian, she is beside herself that none of the district’s five other schools, besides Jonathan Dayton High School, has a certified media specialist. “This is a disservice and a disappointment, and […]

SPRINGFIELD, NJ — Bonnie Lafanza, who has two boys in the local school system, thinks her middle school son is being shortchanged.
As a librarian, she is beside herself that none of the district’s five other schools, besides Jonathan Dayton High School, has a certified media specialist.

“This is a disservice and a disappointment, and we’re truly putting our students at a disadvantage, in my opinion,” she said in a phone interview with LocalSource on Jan. 9. “It’s important to teach this foundation early on.”
Lafanza was one of several parents and educators who used the school board’s Jan. 7 reorganization meeting to press members to add the position for the lower grades.

A media specialist is typically a school librarian, responsible for promoting literacy, teaching research methods and planning lessons that relate to the library. The librarian also assists faculty with curriculum development.
Lafanza is also the director of the Berkeley College Library, a board member of Library Link New Jersey and president for the New Jersey Library Association’s College and University Section.

“I come to you today both as a resident parent in our community and as an experienced librarian professional that I am disappointed and disheartened that we have no certified media specialists in our pre-K through eight schools,” she said at the meeting.
Dayton High School is the only school in the Springfield Public School District that has a certified media specialist. However, high school’s media specialist Barbara Reynolds may visit other district schools, upon request.

Lafanza and others used the meeting to advocate for having a media specialist in every school.
All other Springfield schools have instructional aids in their libraries, and board President Scott Silverstein assured Lafanza during the public comment portion of the meeting that skills taught by media specialists — like how to cite sources in research papers — are “infused” within the curriculum.

“I have not seen it being infused, in my experience with my kids,” Lafanza told LocalSource. “I can’t say for sure that it’s not being done because there may be some amazing teachers that are doing it, but I just don’t see where it’s infused throughout the curriculum.”
The media specialist for the elementary and middle grades retired in 2015. Lafanza said that when she asked board members at a meeting in April 2017 if they were going to hire a replacement, they said they were not planning to do so.

“The lack of strong information literacy foundation at an early age is often impossible to correct at the high school or college library level, which puts these students, our Springfield students, at a complete disadvantage in preparing them for college and the workforce,” Lafanza told the board.

She also told the board that when she volunteered in her sons’ classes, where she taught the students how to strategically search Google and how to identify false information online, teachers commented on the lack of certified media specialists in the schools.
“Every time I went into the schools for a visit like these, the teachers expressed their disappointment to me that we have no librarians in our schools dedicated to teaching our children lessons such as these,” Lafanza said.

Superintendent Michael Davino did not return calls from LocalSource seeking comment.
Springfield has an estimated population of more than 17,000, according to 2016 U.S. Census figures, and a median household income of more than $84,000, according to the 2010 Census.

At the Jan. 7 meeting, parent Kara Corridan read a letter to the board from the New Jersey Library Association urging it to employ certified school media specialists in all school buildings for the next academic year.

“Through their educational preparation, school library media specialists receive graduate level training in literature, research and technology skills essential in a 21st-century learning environment,” the letter read.
Carrie Solomon, a parent and English teacher at Terrill Middle School in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood School, brought her school’s media specialist, Phillip Yap, to the meeting.

“Our media specialists, both in the past and the present, play such a vital role in enhancing the learning environment for our fifth through eighth grade students,” Solomon told the board. “They create an atmosphere that is inviting and engaging, and (the library) is truly the heart of the whole school.”

Yap addressed the board and read a letter to the board on behalf of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians.
“I thought it was important for me to come tonight to urge you all to consider funding for a media specialist,” he said before reading the letter from NJASL president, Jill Mills.

The letter encouraged the board to consider adding a full-time certified media specialist to their elementary and middle schools.
“Your library media specialists are essential staff members. With training and expertise, they can help reach district goals,” Mills’ letter read. “They not only create a learning space where students develop critical thinking, but they establish strong relationships with other teachers so that the learning can extend beyond the classroom.”

Beth Thomas, NJASL vice president and a middle school librarian in the Summit School District, read a letter on behalf of the American Library Associations and the American Association for School Librarians at the meeting.

“I mistakenly assumed that a district that prides itself on its technology and innovation would have certified school librarians in all of its buildings. I am grateful that a parent brought this deficiency to my attention,” Thomas said.

She then told the board that when she tried to access academic databases through the district’s website, there were no links.
“What sources are these students using for research?” she asked. “There’s nothing mentioned about citation tools, which help in preventing plagiarism.”

]]>43461Union OKs apartments for old University Diner propertyhttps://unionnewsdaily.com/headline-news/43464
Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:05:13 +0000https://unionnewsdaily.com/?p=43464UNION, NJ — Plans for a 24-unit apartment building were approved for the half-acre property at 580 North Ave. on the corner of Lynmar Way that was long home to the University Diner, at the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s Jan. 9 meeting, despite residents’ concerns. The plan passed 7-1 with member James DiGiovanni being the […]

]]>Univeristy Diner photo by Brian Trusdell;The University Diner at 580 North Ave. across from Phil Rizzuto Park, is to be replaced by a four-story, 24-unit apartment building, now that the Union Board of Adjustment has given its OK.

UNION, NJ — Plans for a 24-unit apartment building were approved for the half-acre property at 580 North Ave. on the corner of Lynmar Way that was long home to the University Diner, at the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s Jan. 9 meeting, despite residents’ concerns.

The plan passed 7-1 with member James DiGiovanni being the sole vote against the development.
The property, which is located at the edge of the Kean University campus, has been vacant since the diner closed in December 2015, and the applicant, 580 North Avenue Associates, was seeking a variance to erect a multifamily structure within a business and retail district.

“The proposed multiresidential use is a much less intense use than a commercial use in the BB zone,” 580 North attorney Stephen Hehl said at the meeting.

The proposal includes a four-story building with a first-floor parking garage and 24 rental units on the top three floors.
Engineer Edward Dec, of Guarriello & Dec Associates, presented plans to the board that called for 13 one-bedroom apartments, 10 two-bedroom apartments, and one three-bedroom apartment. One apartment will be subsidized so as to be included as part of the township’s Mount Laurel housing obligation.

The new residential development will be constructed just south and across the street from Phil Rizzuto Park in Elizabeth, and residents expressed concerned with how the 60-foot building would affect their neighborhood.
“Right now, I can look out my window and see a view of the park. What’s going to happen when there’s a big, 50-foot building in the way?” Bishop Street resident Frank Kerner asked.

Bishop Street runs parallel to North Avenue.
The building would measure 60 feet from the street because of a five-foot decorative peak on the roof. The building’s proposed 9-foot ceilings also add to the structure’s height.

Artist’s rendering via Union Board of Adjustment videoA four-story, 24-unit apartment building, now that the Union Board of Adjustment has given its OK.

Another Bishop Street resident, Janey Chung, told the board that she had moved to Union from New York City almost a year ago for a more suburban environment.

“If I wanted a 60-foot apartment complex in my backyard, I would’ve stayed in New York City,” she said.
While board members Donna Alexander and Thomas Demovic said they had concerns regarding the height of the building before voting for the plans, DiGiovanni said the height was the biggest issue with the site.

“I think a residential situation here is a good one. However, I am not happy with the height of the building and the size of the building. I think that if it was one story less, I’d be more inclined to vote for it. Therefore, I am going to vote no on this application,” DiGiovanni said.

Residents were also concerned with parking and a possible increase in traffic in the neighborhood. The proposed development would have 38 parking spaces, 12 fewer less than the 46 required by ordinance for a 24-unit residential building.
Professional planner Nicholas Graviano told the board that, due to the building’s close proximity to the Union Train Station, all tenants are not expected to have vehicles.

The old diner property is situated about a mile away from the station, which has been deemed as a walkable distance, according to Graviano.

He also told the board that the development will be beneficial to the township because it will reduce vehicular traffic, compared to other development that could take place there, such as another restaurant or commercial tennant, and the developers will be reducing impervious or paved coverage — included the building itself — on the property by 26 percent.

“When you have reductions like this, there really aren’t any negative impacts on a project like this. It’s only promoting positive attributes that are of benefit to the community,” Graviano said.

When providing an overview of traffic impacts associated with the site, Joseph Staigar, of Dynamic Traffic, told the board that, compared with the diner, the residential development will generate about “one-tenth of what the diner could have generated” in terms of traffic.

“The 24 units will generate much less traffic than other buildings that could be in a BB zone,” Staigar added.
Residents were still concerned with a possible overflow in parking from the development.
Elizabeth Hearne, who lives on Lynmar Way, told the board she was concerned about individuals avoiding parking signs and making it difficult to back out of her driveway.

Staigar responded that residents of the development will be “self sufficient in parking” and assured Hearne that there will be no overflow.

Residents also expressed concerns regarding increased sewage usage, noise and light pollution and issues regarding privacy.
“I think in the long run, it will certainly benefit the community and the town. It seems to be the way that things are going in this town. At some point, we might be the city of Union rather than the township with all of the development that’s going on,” Demovic said.

]]>43464Kenilworth council head envisions revitalized Boulevardhttps://unionnewsdaily.com/headline-news/43455
Sat, 19 Jan 2019 15:58:17 +0000https://unionnewsdaily.com/?p=43455KENILWORTH, NJ — The new council president envisions a revitalized Boulevard replete with flowers, benches and tables lining its spacious sidewalks, accentuating its small-town charm. Linda Karlovitch, who was selected as council president by a 6-0 vote in at the reorganization meeting on Jan. 1, doesn’t have to look far for a blueprint. Karlovitch said […]

]]>Photo by Brian TrusdellNew Kenilworth Council President Linda Karlovitch would like to see Boulevard resemble the downtown section of neighboring borough Cranford.

KENILWORTH, NJ — The new council president envisions a revitalized Boulevard replete with flowers, benches and tables lining its spacious sidewalks, accentuating its small-town charm.
Linda Karlovitch, who was selected as council president by a 6-0 vote in at the reorganization meeting on Jan. 1, doesn’t have to look far for a blueprint.

Karlovitch said the borough’s neighbor to the south, Cranford, has done a great job capturing the Rockwellian feeling she wants to continue to foster in Kenilworth.

“It’s so amazing because I’m there every single day,” said Karlovitch, who owns and operates The Porch Salon on North Avenue in Cranford. “I’ve been working there for 30 years. I still walk to the post office, and I’ll stop and take a picture of the plants. I’m like, ‘Those flowers are so pretty.’ I still find myself really grateful for how pretty it looks, and I would absolutely like to bring some of that to Kenilworth.

“Cranford was just named one of the 10 best towns in New Jersey. We’re rubbing shoulders with Cranford and you know what? We’re a great town, too. In some ways, even better. We have one of the lowest tax rates in the county. We’re a very small community. I feel there is so much potential here to really shine.”

County records show Kenilworth’s municipal property tax rate is 4.909 percent.
Making the this roughly 2-square-mile town of some 8,000 residents shine has been Karlovitch’s goal since she was elected in 2017. One of her first goals was to re-establish the Beautification Committee, which had disbanded, and she set out to fill the empty planters along Boulevard to help transform the borough into a destination for the Union County foodies who flock to its various restaurants.
And she wants to take her vision for a streetscape a step further.

“We’re just bringing these ideas to the table now, applying for grants, but doing a streetscape is not cheap,” she said. “Certainly, we could add some cute, little bistro tables, which I would like to do. The bigger picture is many of our sidewalks are in disrepair and they need repair or sprucing up. They’re old. Just like in many towns in New Jersey, many of our buildings are old and needing attention.

Those things, of course, are expensive. Maybe, little by little, if we have a plan then we can start somewhere. Maybe we’ll do this block and then do the next block next year. I want to get a solid plan to make the Boulevard beautiful.”

Finding the money in the municipal budget to do that could be difficult since the borough is bracing for another hefty bill from the Rahway Valley Sewerage Authority.

LocalSource reported last year that Kenilworth was hit with a 28.5 percent increase in its sewer assessment. The bill was $908,922, which came to $201,373 more than in 2017. By comparison, three towns in the 11-member cooperative saw decreases; four towns saw increases of 2 to 3 percent; and Mountainside, Westfield and Garwood were up 6 to 10 percent. Roselle Park saw an 11.98 percent decrease in assessment.

Karlovitch said Kenilworth could be looking at a bill of more than $1 million from the RVSA in 2019.
“We’re talking about the possibility of bringing in our own meters just to run them for 30 days, just to compare the numbers, just to make sure that we’re paying what we’re supposed to be paying or that there isn’t an issue possibly with one of their meters,” Karlovitch said. “It’s a pretty big bill. We’re just a little town. It’s like what the mayor (Anthony DeLuca) says all the time, ‘I just don’t think we’re flushing our toilet that much.’ I have to agree.”

Remaining committed to stabilizing taxes while making improvements to her hometown of the past 50 years will be a difficult balancing act.
Karlovitch, however, wears her pride in Kenilworth on her sleeve. She still remembers when her parents pulled up in front of a house on North 22nd Street and telling her, “This is our new house.”

When she grew up and moved out, she got an apartment on Washington Avenue. She now lives one block over from her childhood home, on South 23rd, with her husband, Joe, and their daughter, Angelina.

Karlovitch said her years of running a salon has helped her learn to work with people with disparate personalities. It helped her organize events, such as Restaurant Week during her first year on the council, and she thinks that will serve her well as council president.

“I’m good at gathering people, and I know that sounds weird, but I’m good at that,” she said. “If I can run these events and parties, I’m good at that. I enjoy people, genuinely. I think that’s a tribute to a lot of my success in business, that I listen to people and I care about people and I want people to all feel important because they are.”

]]>Lorraine Theresa Dyjeczynski Valitutto, 85, passed away Monday, January 14, 2019, at Beacon Place Hospice & Palliative Care.
Lorraine was born April 11, 1933, in Bayonne, NJ, daughter of Edward and Helen Dyjeczynski. Lorraine graduated from Bayonne High School and attended St Peter’s College and Seton Hall University in NJ. She studied Fashion at the Barbizon School in Union, NJ, and New York City, and Interior Design at UNC- Greensboro. In her early life, she worked in New York City as a secretary to the Regional Personnel Training Manager of Montgomery Ward & Co. After her children were on their own paths, she worked for ten years as the Graduate Student Admissions Administrator where she was awarded the first Chancellor’s Award for Dedicated Service to Graduate Students, and the Exemplary Student Support Award by the Vice-President of Fairleigh Dickenson University in Madison, NJ. Lorraine was a devoted Roman Catholic and had a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother. In High School, she was a member of the Society of the Immaculate Conception and as an adult served as a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) teacher in Newark, NJ. Lorraine loved music and the arts and volunteered extensively with the Young Artist Opera Theater and the Greensboro Symphony Guild in Greensboro. Returning to New Jersey with her husband, she continued with the Opera at Florham at Fairleigh Dickenson University. Lorraine and her husband enjoyed serving together as President and Secretary of the Opera at Florham Board. She was always proud of her work on the beautiful Snow Ball Gala during their tenure on the board. Also, she served in many community volunteer roles including Meals on Wheels.
Lorraine was a kind and gentle spirit and a gracious hostess who loved entertaining and making all feel loved and welcomed. She will be well remembered for her generous care of family, neighbors, and friends through her beautiful cards, letters, parties, cooking, and baking.
Lorraine is preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Edward Dyjeczynski (Ocean Ed) as well as her Mother and Father- in-law, Francis and Ulianna (Frank and Winnie) who lived with Lorraine and her husband from the time they were married until her in-laws passed away at the ages of 96 and 92. After her husband retired and they returned to Greensboro, her mother, Helen, lived with them in Greensboro until she passed at 96, another testament to Lorraine’s endless love and care for her family. Lorraine is survived by her husband of 60 years, Richard (Dick) John Valitutto; two sons, Richard Edward Francis Valitutto (Julene) of Greensboro; Paul Douglas Valitutto of Greensboro; four grandchildren whom she cherished, Richard Edward Francis Valitutto II, Ithaca, NY; CPT John Valitutto (Kathleen) of Ft Riley, KS; Alexander Valitutto of Charlotte; Caroline Valitutto of Denver, CO; and two great-grandsons, John and Henry of Ft Riley, KS; her loving brother-in-law, Francis Valitutto of Pinehurst; sisters-in-law, Marie Valitutto of NJ and FL, Connie White of Manasquan, NJ; and numerous loving nieces and nephews. The family will receive visitors on Monday, January 21, from 6 until 8pm, with a Rosary prayer at 7:30 pm, at Forbis & Dick Funeral Service, North Elm Street, Greensboro, NC. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St Pius X Catholic Church on Tuesday, January 22, at 11am. Interment will follow at 3:30pm at Pinelawn Memorial Park, 1105 Morganton Road, Southern, Pines, NC.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to St Pius X Catholic Church, 2210 North Elm St, Greensboro, NC 27408, or Beacon Place Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro, 2502 Summit Ave, Greensboro, NC 27405.

]]>43526Union school board members clash over remote vote for presidenthttps://unionnewsdaily.com/headline-news/43453
Fri, 18 Jan 2019 15:55:52 +0000https://unionnewsdaily.com/?p=43453UNION, NJ — School board members clashed at their annual reorganization meeting when board member Mary Lynn Williams was allowed to cast her vote for president remotely. Williams was the only one of the nine members absent from the Jan. 3, and she participated via a conference call due to a death in her family. […]

]]>UNION, NJ — School board members clashed at their annual reorganization meeting when board member Mary Lynn Williams was allowed to cast her vote for president remotely.

Williams was the only one of the nine members absent from the Jan. 3, and she participated via a conference call due to a death in her family.

Former President Vito Nufrio nominated Nancy Minneci while Kim Ruiz nominated Ronnie McDowell. Both nominations received a second and the board began its roll call vote.

When Williams voted for Minneci, Nellis Regis-Darby was the first to object, saying, “She can’t vote. She’s not present. She’s not here. How can she vote?”

Board attorney Lester Taylor told Regis-Darby that, since the board was in the middle of a roll call vote, she shouldn’t be commenting.
“The appropriate time for a question would be after the vote. But I will say there’s nothing in your board policy, there’s nothing in the law, that prohibits a member from participating in a meeting by phone,” Taylor said.
“She can participate but can she vote by phone?” Regis-Darby asked.

“My legal opinion is yes,” Taylor responded..
Williams was joined by Minneci, Sherry Higgins, Nufrio and Richardson in voting in Minneci with a vote of 5-4. Regis-Darby, along with newly sworn-in board members Kalisha Morgan, Ruiz and McDowell, voted no.
Williams did not respond to requests for comment from LocalSource.

“I don’t know that that’s her on the phone. You said so,” Regis-Darby said referring to board secretary Gregory Brennan. “I don’t know that it’s her. How do I know? I don’t know.”

Brennan had arranged the conference call that included Williams in the board meeting.
After Regis-Darby nominated McDowell for vice president, former board president Nufrio nominated Williams.
“How can you nominate someone that’s not even present?” Regis-Darby asked.

However, there was no second for Williams’ nomination, so McDowell assumed the position of vice president unanimously.
“There is no definition of ‘present’ however, due to technology in this day and age, people can participate electronically in meetings,” Taylor responded to Regis-Darby regarding the board’s policy on voting.

He also stated that the board’s policy is “silent” on voting remotely so, in his legal opinion, remote voting can occur.
“If our policy, in fact, speaks to the ability for board members to participate remotely, and it’s silent as to whether or not the board member can vote remotely, then my concern is that we are broadening a policy without a vote on that particular policy,” said Ruiz, who is new to the board.

Former board member Jeff Monge, speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting, read the board’s policy regarding voting methods.

“I’ll let you know that the precedent with this board is that you can call in to hear, but you were never able to vote. It happened with me and it happened with Mr. Nufrio, who’s sitting here now and saw all of this happening,” Monge said before reading the policy.
The policy reads that, “all motions shall require for adoption a majority vote of those present and voting (minimally, a majority of the quorum), except as provided by code or statute.”

He emphasized that the key word in the policy is “present” and that Williams is not.
Monge provided LocalSource with a copy of a letter he had sent to Executive County Superintendent Daryl Palmieri on Jan. 10, regarding how the meeting was conducted.

In the letter, Monge restated what went on at the Jan. 3 meeting and called for Palmieri to “step in and investigate this on behalf of the silenced parents, children and general public.”

“What is worse, it seemed obvious that the remote voting scheme was planned and discussed with the board attorney prior to the vote and surely others, but not the whole board. That element of surprise was very undermining to members and the public that had no clue on the intentions for the remote voting,” the letter reads. “Just because one can find a legal ‘loophole’ doesn’t make it right and ethical.”

Nancy Zuena, another former board member, echoed Monge’s sentiments by saying that she had participated through phone conference for several meetings but was never allowed to vote remotely.

“We broke our own policy tonight. So how is a meeting valid if we broke our own policy?” she asked during the public comment.
The board attorney stated that board members don’t have to answer questions during the public comment portion of meetings.
“I’d like an answer in the future,” Zuena said.

]]>43453Elizabeth remains undefeated after producing dominant win at Mountain Division arch rival Union; Price pours in career-high 26 for 12-0 Minutemenhttps://unionnewsdaily.com/sports/43514
Fri, 18 Jan 2019 02:33:54 +0000https://unionnewsdaily.com/?p=43514UNION – Arch rival Union had it going on early, scoring the game’s first five points, taking the ball away time and time again and going strong to the hoop. The host Farmers looked more than up to the challenge of being the first team to knock off undefeated Elizabeth. A little more than six […]

]]>UNION – Arch rival Union had it going on early, scoring the game’s first five points, taking the ball away time and time again and going strong to the hoop.
The host Farmers looked more than up to the challenge of being the first team to knock off undefeated Elizabeth.
A little more than six minutes in Union built a 10-point lead after the Farmers produced their fifth steal of the first quarter.
Elizabeth reserve center Abdul Shanunu then scored off an offensive rebound and teammate DJ Watkins followed with a 3 from the left side right before the first quarter buzzer to innocently enough pull the Minutemen to within five.
That was the beginning of the end for Union.
Elizabeth extended its run to 10-0 in the second quarter to tie the game for the first time. Then behind the continued inside-and-outside dominance of junior forward Jordan Price – who led all scorers with a career-high 26-point performance – the Minutemen began to pull away.
Elizabeth took its second lead and the advantage for good in the latter stages of the second quarter on a layup by Watkins and then – after being ahead by four at intermission – played some of its best basketball of the season in the second half.
After Watkins scored all nine of his points in the first half, senior forward Jesiah West produced all 14 of his in the second half as Elizabeth went on to post a decisive 66-44 boys’ basketball win over Union in Thursday afternoon’s Union County Conference-Mountain Division clash at Union High School’s Louis J. Rettino Gymnasium.
Elizabeth improved to 12-0 overall and leads the Mountain Division at 3-0. Union slipped to 6-6 overall and 2-2 in the Mountain Division.
The teams will clash again in Mountain Division play Feb. 5 at the Dunn Sport Center.
Elizabeth, with two huge games coming up at home against St. Mary’s of Elizabeth Saturday night and then at Union Catholic in Mountain Division play Tuesday night, overcame a sluggish start to keep that zero ever present in the right column of its won-loss record.
Senior captains Brenden Kelly and West were held scoreless in the first half, but were picked up by teammates such as Price, Watkins, Shanunu, Al-Fatir Connor and Pascal Dodard.
“We found out something,” Elizabeth first-year head coach Phil Colicchio said. “We found out that we can play for an extended period of time when Kelly and West are not at their best.”
Dodard, up from the junior varsity, produced a steal and layup to give Elizabeth its first lead at 23-21.
“We needed another guard,” Colicchio said. “Pascal came in off the bench and played well defensively. He really bottled up their guards and he didn’t turn the ball over.
“Then we dominated the paint.”
That’s where Price came in.
It took a while for Price and then West to exhibit their prowess inside, but when they did they took the game over – Price in both halves and West in the second.
Price scored his first seven points in the first quarter and led all scorers with 13 at intermission. After connecting on his second of two 3s for his only points of the third quarter he scored 10 more in the fourth.
Price went to the hoop strong to either come down with a defensive rebound or tip in an offensive miss. From the outside – when Elizabeth had its passing game running smoothly – he was able to catch the ball facing the basket, turn around, and hit a jumper with complete confidence.
Union had no answer for Price hitting his outside shot, which was accurate to the north side of 50 percent.
“Jordan just gets better and better,” Colicchio said. “The job he did on the offensive glass, it’s been like that every single game now for the last five.
“Inside and outside he was there. He’s the first kid at practice and the last kid to leave.”
Price scored Elizabeth’s first points on a 3-pointer from the right side at the 4:35 mark of the first quarter.
“In the beginning we had to step it up on defense,” Price said. “We had to be aggressive on the boards and do a better job of rebounding.”
Price nailed back-to-back jumpers in the lane to extend Elizabeth’s lead to 29-23 near the end of the second quarter.
“I felt confident taking those shots,” Price said. “We started to make some big shots and that got the crowd going. We just tried to be as aggressive as we could be.”
Union scored consecutive baskets – an inside hoop by Ezra Glover and a jumper in the lane by Rache Thomas – to pull to within six at 40-34 with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
However, Elizabeth answered quickly by closing the period on a 5-0 run to take a nine-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
In cementing this division victory Elizabeth ended the first and third quarters on 5-0 runs, the second on a 9-2 run and the fourth on an 11-0 run.
Consecutive baskets by West in the lane put Elizabeth up by 15 at 51-36 with six minutes remaining. The Minutemen never took their foot off the pedal.
“Our kids played with a lot of energy and effort at the start,” said Union eighth-year head coach Kevin Feeley.
Thomas, a 3, and Glover scored the game’s first baskets to give Union a 5-0 lead. Russel Ayala led Union with 12 points, Glover was next with 10 and then Thomas and Jakin Edmond with eight.
Glover and Thomas both came up with two steals in the first eight minutes.
Union forwards Edmond and Val Julien hung in there on the glass in the early going before Price and West – as a tandem – started to take over. The 6-6 Shanunu also made his presence felt from a rebounding standpoint as soon as he entered in the first quarter.
“They wore us down with their size,” Feeley said. “We saw enough of them on film to know what they were going to do. They made their jump shots. That’s a big reason why they are 12-0.
“Our effort was there. We have some things to work on.”
Union’s next three games are also at home, including vs. Morris Knolls Saturday morning, New Providence next Thursday and Orange on Jan. 26.
NOTES: Elizabeth’s next two games will go a long way toward determining its seeding for this year’s Union County Tournament, which will be put together right after the Super Bowl.
Of the four teams in the UCC’s Watchung Division, Elizabeth plays St. Mary’s of Elizabeth this Saturday (barring inclement weather) and then the Patrick School Jan. 29. The Minutemen are not scheduled to face Roselle Catholic and Linden.
The four teams in the Watchung Division were scheduled to play each other Thursday night, with 13-0 Roselle Catholic facing Patrick School (8-5) and Linden (7-6) against St. Mary’s (9-3).
“We come ready to play night in and night out,” Colicchio said. “I only know how to play one way and that’s hard for 32 minutes.”
“Nobody thought we would be 12-0,” Price said. “We still have a lot more games to go. We just have to continue to be ready.”

]]>Overlook Medical Center in Summit was one of 68 hospitals nationwide to be selected to a list of environmentally and sustainable health systems.

SUMMIT, NJ — Overlook Medical Center’s nearly decadelong effort to reduce its environmental footprint has officially been recognized.
The hospital, which is part of Atlantic Health System, was among 68 medical centers nationwide named to a list of environmentally friendly and sustainable hospitals and health systems in Becker’s Hospital Review for 2018.

The magazine’s review praised Overlook for cutting its meat consumption by 62 percent and installing a series of initiatives, including clinical plastic recycling, device reprocessing and other energy-saving measures in a list released Dec. 3.
According to Overlook’s administration, the effort is closely tied to its work as health care providers.

“It is no secret that there is much work to be done as a global society regarding sustainability,” Michael Atanasio, the hospital’s director of food and nutrition, parking and patient transportation, said in a Jan. 13 email to LocalSource. “As health care providers, we understand that health begins in our communities, and how much a healthy environment affects our communities, so any steps we can take to improve things at that very early stage, we want to contribute.”

Atanasio leads the environmental sustainability initiatives at the hospital.
Some of Overlook’s first initiatives included offering discounted coffee prices for those who bring a reusable cup and replacing single-use plastic products with reusable and renewable kitchen products in the cafeterias. From there, Overlook increased its efforts by recycling nontraditional items such as batteries and cooking oil.

For Atanasio, one of the hospital’s biggest sustainability achievements is the center’s trigeneration power plant, which produces 4 megawatts of electricity on site by harnessing the waste heat produced by generators. This process allows the hospital to operate independent of grid-supplied power during emergency situations.

“It not only provides a profound green benefit, but it also enables us to provide service to our community without interruption,” he said. “The single most impressive example of this was Superstorm Sandy, when Overlook was able to maintain its own power despite outages elsewhere. We were a beacon in Summit. We not only delivered unyielding quality health care to our patients, we provided food, water, shelter and comfort to our community.

The process also reduces the cost of replaces energy by more than 60 percent, Atanasio said.
Other significant achievements include the installation of a food dehydrator and implementation of the Orbio on-site generation system, which creates cleaning and disinfecting solutions.

Overlook uses the dehydrator to dry food waste, reducing its weight by almost 95 percent. The Orbio OSG system uses an electrolysis process to convert water, electricity and small amounts of salt into cleaning and disinfection solutions.
The dehydrator “saves valuable landfill space and also, substitutes for composting,” Atanasio said. “The Orbio system significantly reduces the use of environmentally harmful chemicals without any compromise in safety.”

Atanasio credits Overlook’s president, Alan Lieber, for his role in the sustainability initiatives, saying Lieber, “truly walks the walk.”
A large part of Overlook’s environmental initiative involves the community and educating others on sustainability through its “Bee Healthy” program.

In 2013, the hospital was the first in the state to install beehives on its roof. The benefits of having the 10 beehives include fresh honey and beeswax, which are transformed in-house to lip balms and lotion.

Overlook has also leased a plot of land to the community at no cost, offering 48 garden beds where residents cultivate produce that goes to food pantries in Summit.

“When you can show local school children firsthand the benefits of sustainable living, your efforts have instantly multiplied,” Atanasio said.

The hospital also made Practice Greenhealth’s Top 25 Environmental Excellence last year and was awarded a Greening the OR recognition from Greenhealth.

The sustainability team at Overlook has already committed to several goals for 2019, including the expansion of technology to reduce flash sterilization rates, and securing resources to construct a hydroponic greenhouse — in which plants are grown without soil — through community partnerships.

“This is an obligation we have to our community, patients, staff and society at large,” Atanasio said.